ENJOYING THE VIEW Michael Timlin, Chairman of Knockmore GAA Club, and PJ Loftus, relax in the new stand in Carrick-on-Shannon before the patrons arrived for last Sunday's Connacht SFC semi-final between Galway and Leitrim. Pic: Sportsfile
Minors hit major problems again
Kevin McStayTHE record books indicate Roscommon minors have yet to put two Connacht minor titles back to back. It is a reflection of the often haphazard approach the county has taken to underage football and the structures needed to advance the idea of a conveyor belt from under 16 to minor to under 21 and on eventually to senior ranks. For now, those days are gone and a new approach is evident.
We can argue Mayo are the market leaders in this field and the various age groups and associated structures, managements and overall cohesion are the envy of many other county boards. The under 16s and under 21s grade continue to chug along but the minor age group have hit a long and dangerous patch of ice. It is now six years since a minor title was won in the province and if you contrast that recent record to the winning list under JP Kean you will note the steep fall over the edge and down the canyon.
Mayo minors are out of the championship for 2007 and the month of July is not yet upon us. Indeed, Roscommon’s comprehensive win last Saturday night in Hyde Park marked their second victory in a row over the traditional power. I don’t have access to the records for earlier rounds of the minor championships throughout the ages, but I will hazard a guess Ros’ do not achieve that stat too often either.
The reigning Connacht and All-Ireland minor champions look to be chiselled from the same piece of granite that Fergal O’Donnell and his staff used in 2006. There are few stars but plenty of hard workers and the ability to defend and tackle when the pressure comes on is obvious. They started without their best player and yet had the hard work completed by half-time when they led by five points. Mayo had failed to score from play in that opening phase and the free had come in the eleventh minute.
Although facing a stiff wind, every manager knows it will not turn around a team that is seriously under-performing and Mayo found themselves so flat it was unlikely a recovery might be engineered. An early goal from Roscommon would kill the game off and that is exactly what happened; the underdogs hit a goal and a point to lead by 1-7 to 0-1 and it was a case of ‘ball burst, game over’ for Mayo.
When we head for the exit gates after a minor championship game we ask ourselves who are the likely ones for senior football. Mayo minor teams always feature a couple that you feel will cut the mustard. Last weekend nobody, alas, stood out. Perhaps young Alan Freeman in the corner but then I have a bias in this regard. I also liked the play of Ruairdhri O’Connor and Niall Prenty should come again.
But it was a dreadfully disappointing night for Mayo followers. No spark, no style, no feature.
It must be every player and manager’s nightmare but nobody plans for a collapse or a performance that is so flat it perplexes. And days and weeks can pass and you still will not get answers why a good team hit the field and just collapsed. Roscommon’s seniors found themselves in a similar position in their semi-final defeat to Sligo a week earlier. They are still searching for reasons why.
The game was extremely well-refereed by Michael Duffy from Sligo and we should see more of this young official sooner rather than later. He had one controversial moment to deal with and to my eye his umpires called it wrong. But I was a considerable distance away when Niall Prenty came in along the end line before getting the ball across to Alan Freeman who crashed the ball to the net. The officials felt young Prenty had crossed the line. But had the ball? I’d argue my case strongly with them!
Qualifier draw could have been worse
WE knew it was going to be the Qualifier draw to beat all others. With the demotion of the Division 4 teams for 2008, the chance of a soft landing was removed. But as soft landings go we got the best one in town. Cavan at home is just the type of fixture that John O’Mahony would have wanted to relaunch the project.
Recent results and performances and, more importantly, the enthusiasm levels, indicate that O’Mahony is going to try and repeat his 2001 heroics.
Cavan versus Down was one of the opening fixtures of the championship season and I worked at the drawn encounter. Nothing on show frightened me. Indeed subsequent events indicate that the Cavan panel is in some disarray with disaffected players heading for the summer football in the United States.
All in all then just about everything we might have hoped for. The manager believes, the panel believes, but the jury is out as far as the supporters are concerned. If we can fill Pearse Stadium for an opening round match with Galway, surely the team deserves our support as they set about wiping the slate clean.
I have no idea how the fitness levels are but expect they cannot be as tuned as they were seven weeks ago when we prepared for Galway. Luckily most of the other teams are in the same boat.
We mentioned the Dubs in this column a few weeks ago and the wagon rolls on. They are a little like Mayo in recent years; Leinster titles are of little value except when under pressure managers trot out the idea that three-in-a-row in a province should be enough. It never is and in Dublin’s case only Sam Maguire will satisfy the masses.
They continue to beat whatever is put in front of them and I honestly think they are an improving team. Put it this way, I would not expect Mayo to beat them if they met this season.
The draw and replay against Meath brought them on a ton and if the win over Offaly was less convincing factor in the six-day break for recovery and re-focus. There are very few teams out there equipped to beat Dublin; Tyrone, Kerry and Armagh perhaps, and with the standard in Leinster only fair to middling, the draw, once Meath were looked after, was enticing.
The Dubs have done all they can so far and yet we have big honours type questions to ask. It is unlikely they will be down on paper before the quarterfinals in August but you can be sure they will be posed. What we cannot be sure of is the response.
So, we will just have to wait for those games. But don’t be surprised if they have their study done and in a scenario where they are repeating their exams for a third year, one might be tempted to back this hard-working student.
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